Baker brothers Tom and Henry Herbert on ‘get-out-of-trouble’ cakes and more

Whether you’re baking bread or breaking bread, it has an uncanny way of bringing people together. And that is the real reason why Tom and Henry Herbert, who host the show The Fabulous Baker Brothers, love what they do. Gearing up for their desi debut on TLC India later this month, Tom tells us with a laugh, “Of course, food plays a big role as well. At our house, the challenge is not getting fat.”

On the show
These brothers have had their fair share of tropical climates and Indian food. In fact, the two who “just got back from shooting in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia”, did the research for their Indian show five years earlier on a trip here. So will the show be British cooking with an Asian twist? “Well, it’s been shot at our bakery in Gloucesterchire, England,” says Tom, the elder of the two. “So it’s more British. However, the recipes we’ve chosen are multi-cultural,” he adds. Keep an eye out for a speedy chappati and fish curry, to be featured on one of the episodes, and a recipe for the hot cross buns Tom wooed his wife Anna with.

Quick-fix cake
When Henry Herbert senses trouble brewing with his wife, he bakes her a knockout chocolate cake. He’s now introduced it to fans as his ‘get-out-of-trouble cake’. “Sometimes I put it together in anticipation of bad behaviour,” he says unabashedly. Now if you think this too easy a remedy, consider the next part. Fight or not, courtesy her dashing husband/chef, this wife never has to cook!

Meet the family
“She walked into our bakery and I gave her a bun with ‘I Heart You’ on it,” laughs Tom. One has to wonder how they keep it all together—between wives, kids, a five-generation-old family bakery and shooting schedules, it’s one heck of a plateful. But Tom responds, “Luckily we have a great family at home that keeps it all running smoothly.” Did we mention they have 36 cousins who help out?

The Fabulous Baker Brothers premiers on February 17 on TLC at 8.30 pm.